Natural gas from storage or production reservoirs typically contains carbon dioxide (CO2). Such a natural gas is denoted as a “sour” gas. Another species denoted as “sour” in a fluid stream is hydrogen sulphide (H2S). A fluid stream without any of aforementioned sour species is denoted as a “sweet” fluid.
CO2 promotes corrosion within pipelines. Furthermore, in some jurisdictions, legal and commercial requirements with respect to a maximum concentration of CO2 in a fluid stream may be in force. Therefore, it is desirable to remove CO2 from a sour fluid stream.
Fluid sweetening processes, i.e. a process to remove a sour species like carbon dioxide from a fluid stream, are known in the art. Such processes typically include at least one of chemical adsorption, physical adsorption, low temperature distillation, also referred to as cryogenic separation, and membrane separation.
The use of such methods for removing carbon dioxide from a fluid stream is extremely complex and expensive.